World Water Day and Earth Day Programs: Save the Dates for Two Free Webinars

By Marguerite Adelman
Earth Democracy Committee and Burlington WILPF

March 2021

Is your branch looking for safe ways to learn about and acknowledge World Water Day on March 22 and Earth Day on April 22? WILPF US’s Earth Democracy Committee and WILPF Burlington are offering webinars for each of these important environmental commemorations. 

On Sunday, March 21 – the day before World Water Day – we will be offering a webinar to introduce WILPF members and others to our new website, Military Poisons. This site exposes the connection between water and food and military PFAS contamination. The webinar will last one hour and will be held at 2 pm PST, 3 pm MST, 4 pm CST, 5 pm EST.

This newly designed website is both a resource and research tool for those who want to learn more about PFAS contamination and the military. (The new website will be launched closer to the event date). WILPF US member Pat Elder started the Military Poisons website when Earth Democracy’s California PFAS tour to military bases and presentations at 10 California branches was planned in March 2020.

With a WILPF US mini-grant and the technical expertise of Better World Creative, the website has been redesigned to make it more accessible and easier to navigate. Besides demonstrating the new website and how to research the confirmed and suspected military contamination sites in your state and region, we’ll introduce you to the newest PFAS and the Military Project that is starting in Vermont. You’ll hear about the Vermont Project and from those working on it, including Pat Elder, a PFAS investigative journalist; Patricia Hynes, women’s and public health expert; Marguerite Adelman, WILPF Burlington Team Leader; Kyendamina Cleophace Mukeba, Community Outreach Coordinator; and James Ehlers, Vermont Project Coordinator and Environmental Advocate.

On Monday, April 22—Earth Day—we will be showing the award-winning documentary film No Defense and holding a discussion after the one-hour film. The Vermont International Film Festival will be hosting this free film showing. The time is yet to be determined. The documentary by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sara Ganim focuses on PFAS contamination at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan.

The documentary has not yet been released for distribution…so this is a unique opportunity. This powerful film is about a community that has waited years for cleanup, and the people affected—people who are suffering, who are blowing the whistle, and who are fighting against one of the largest-known polluters in the country—the United States military.  

For decades, it’s been documented that a category of chemicals known as PFAS are harmful to life, yet the military continues to mandate their use at hundreds of sites across the country, contaminating surface water and drinking water. A discussion will be held following the film, including WILPF US experts Pat Elder, Patricia Hynes, and others.

If you would like to receive information about how to register for these two FREE events so that you can promote them with your WILPF members, please send an email to Marguerite Adelman at madel51353@gmail.com. Include your name, branch (if applicable), and email address.